[12] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs. [54] Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
Nerves got to the Romanian early in her first service game and Ostapenko was quick to take advantage, securing the only break in the first set. Although there were a few games where she had break points against her serve, she held firm.
There is nothing complicated about Ostapenko’s strategy, hit the ball as hard as she can and if that fails, hit it even harder; however, today we saw glimpses of her trying to incorporate more finesse shots into her arsenal, which was a necessity against an opponent who was equally adept at hitting the ball hard. Her improved mobility and fitness also came to her defense because Cirstea pushed her multiple times to deuce on her serve.
Cirstea appeared to settle down in the second set and even had an early break lead; however, she could not consolidate the break. The second set was a bit more erratic from the Latvian, something we have come to expect because of her vulnerable serve and she was broken twice after winning the first set without dropping serve; yet, she never got rattled, she just redoubled her efforts and immediately broke back in the next game.
Ostapenko also never strayed from her aggressive attacking style of play and her defensive skills off the ground won her the match. Her fearless style of play is one of the reasons she catches her opponents off guard. Add her ferocious backhand and her youthful enthusiasm and she becomes a very difficult opponent to defeat when she executes her shots with accuracy. The Romanian found that out when the relentless attack caused her to lose serve late in the second set.
Ostapenko held her nerves to serve out the match and won 6-4, 6-4, securing her first visit to the third round of the US Open where she will play a familiar foe, Daria Kasatkina.
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